A friend of mine said he’d received a promotion from one of the major credit bureaus offering – for a fee, of course – to protect his children’s online security from identity theft.
But there was a little aspect of it that kept bothering him. “I couldn’t remember what it was, so I did a bit of online research. It seems that last year, this same company was involved in a data breach of its own that, as one security-magazine put it ‘appears to have leaked the credit scores of nearly every American that has one.'”
No wonder my friend was somewhat unsettled. He decided to do what he could for his kids by turning to the Federal Trade Commission. The agency has good advice for protecting online identities for children and adults.
The first place to start with child security is at school. The FTC tells parents that before they turn over a child’s Social Security number, have four questions answered: Why is the number needed? How will it be kept secure? Can another identifier be used? Can just the last four numbers be used?
With COVID-19 came a higher risk of identity theft, said Seena Gressin, an attorney for the FTC’s consumer and business education division. “In 2020, the FTC got about 1.4 million reports of identity theft, double the number from 2019. Repeatedly, identity thieves targeted government funds earmarked to help people hard hit financially by the pandemic.”
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A child younger than 18 with a Social Security number may also have a credit report – although he or she or the child’s parents – may not know it. The credit report may be for the fraudulent use of a credit card. To find out if there is a credit report attached to a Social Security number, contact the three credit bureaus that track credit scores.
Credit reports can be frozen to prevent them from being used for opening new accounts or to prevent unauthorized use.
The parent of a child younger than 16 can freeze and unfreeze the child’s credit report. The service is free, but must be done for all three credit bureaus. After the child turns 16, he or she can freeze and unfreeze the account.
“Though this might not be a foolproof method, it can greatly help to prevent identity theft,” said Robert Siciliano, a security expert and best-selling author of five identity-protection books. “Why? Because when a credit report is frozen, it is much more difficult for a cyber criminal to open a new account.”
If a person needs to apply for new credit, “you can easily lift the freeze,” Siciliano said, and added, “At the end of the day, this is a simple financial safeguard.” Parents would be “irresponsible” if they didn’t freeze their children’s credit reports, he said.
Federal laws governing credit information allow one free report a year from each of the three bureaus in the United States. That’s true for adults and children. To keep current on the reports, FTC officials suggest requesting a report from one credit bureau every four months.
In that way, you would receive a free credit report three times, at which time it would be time to start the cycle again. The three credit companies are: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
Documents and bills with personal information – whether for children or adults – should be kept in a safe location. Don’t throw them in the trash when finished with them: Use a shredder. If you don’t have a shredder, businesses or governments sometimes have a “shred day.”
For more information and ideas, visit the FTC’s website: www.ftc.gov.
Lonnie Brown can be reached at LedgerDatabase@aol.com.
